European Union

Tiffin, Oh. (Special to Informed Comment) – Europe has been a flash point for war among both great and small powers for centuries. Conflicts beginning there have been known to spill over outside Europe, sometimes encompassing nearly the entire planet. These wars have unleashed untold human suffering and death, destroyed entire societies and produced campaigns […]

Germany

German State Plans Hundreds of Artificial Energy Islands to Deploy North Sea Wind

Clean Energy Wire

By Jessica Bateman | – The northernmost German state of Schleswig-Holstein has announced it wants to help push forward the energy transition by building artificial power islands in the North Sea, newspaper Die Zeit reported. Tobias Goldschmidt, the state’s energy secretary, said the energy produced on “hundreds” of offshore plants could be bundled and then […]

Climate Crisis

Germany’s Solar PV capacity, at 59 Gigs, overtakes its Onshore Wind, as it aims to triple Both

Clean Energy Wire

By Jessica Bateman and Benjamin Wehrmann | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The total solar PV capacity in Germany has reached 59 gigawatts (GW) in 2021, overtaking the installed onshore wind power capacity in the country, according to the pv magazine. The cumulative installed wind power capacity reached slightly more than 56 GW […]

European Union

Despite the U.S. Hype about an “imminent” Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is not Ready to Risk War

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – Russia seems to be giving up on the “ultimatum” it issued to the United States in December. After Washington and its allies said no to Moscow’s security demands, the Kremlin started to soften its rhetoric regarding a potential NATO expansion eastward. Western media, however, keep spreading rumors of an […]

Climate Crisis

Youth, NGO, launch Major Lawsuit against German Gov’t for slow Climate Action in highest court

Clean Energy Wire

By Jessica Bateman | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Young Germans supported by an environmental NGO have filed a new lawsuit with the country’s highest court to force the government to further step up its climate ambitions. Nine children and young adults, along with Environmental Action Germany (DUH), launched a constitutional complaint claiming […]

Climate Crisis

Europe is dependent on Russian Gas during Ukraine Crisis because it didn’t Ramp up Renewables Faster

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The growing conflict between the United States and the Russian Federation over the Ukraine has taken an increasingly dark turn, with press reports that US embassy personnel and dependents are being pulled out of Kiev and that President Biden is considering sending US troops to Ukraine’s neighbors. The conflict has […]

Germany

Germany’s First Battery-Powered Train Plies Regional Routes on Way to Green Rails

Benjamin Wehrmann

( Clean Energy Wire ) – Together with French manufacturer Alstom, German railway company Deutsche Bahn is going to start trial runs with the country’s first battery-powered passenger train. Test operation of the so-called Battery Electric Multiple Unit (BEMU) from Alstom would begin in late January on regional routes in the southern German states of […]

Ireland

Ireland has the Wind and Seas to become an offshore Superpower

The Conversation

By Aldert Otter | – The Irish government signed up to the recent Glasgow Climate Pact and used the summit to announce a raft of ambitious goals, including the development of 5 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy up to 2030. That would more than double the country’s current onshore and offshore wind power capacity. […]

Germany

Renewables supplied 46% of net public power in Germany in 2021, 40.9% of Gross

Clean Energy Wire

NB: “In 2020, renewable energy sources (including wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy) generated . . . about 21% of all the electricity generated in the United States.” – EIA [half that of Germany]. – JRC By Kerstine Appunn | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The share of renewables in net public […]